Welcome back to the blog! A lot has been happening with all the members of the BSF Pro Team. From races in Colorado and Utah for the athletes, and our coach heading over to Europe to coach the World Junior Ski Championship. There is also a lot to look forward to for the team, with the world famous American Birkenbiner coming up this weekend. But let's focus on what has happened since our last update.
To start the team was in Colorado for the 2nd weekend of the RMISA college circuit. The races were held at Malloit Park in Vail/ Minturn. The high altitude of Vail, leads to shorter races to not destroy the lungs of the competitors. High altitude racing for me is basically a whole different sport. The painstakingly slow speed paired with the physical pain you're going through makes these races very challenging. The races were a 7.5k skate, and 10k classic.
An anything but simple skate race with some strong performances including my 3rd place was a great way to start the weekend of racing. The course was a 2.5k loop. The entire course is basically all transitions, and cornering, with one long steep hill. With a course like this, it presents an opportunity for athletes with strong upper bodies to choose to use waxless classic skis, or simply skate skis. However, this means going up the big hill, they have to get creative with ways to legally navigate the technique zone.
A technique zone is where you must have alternating motions with your arms and legs. SO in these zones, you can’t double pole. For skiers like me with a higher aerobic capacity compared to my muscular capacity, I still choose to use regular classic skis. For me it ended up working really well, and I was able to finish the 10 kilometers in 5th place. 2.7 seconds from another podium!
Overall the team had some strong races, and were able to stay in a good mood through the tough weekend. We traveled halfway home to Bozeman, stopping in Casper, Wyoming. We were able to crank out some beautiful perfect kilometers at the nordics tracks in Casper! It was a beautiful day to ski before finishing the drive home to Bozeman.
We took a good 1-2 days off before preparing for the next races in Bozeman just a few days later.
Stay tuned tomorrow for another Finn O’Connell race recap update of the BSF pro team, before we toe to the start line for the American Birkenbiner.
See all results from Vail at
https://my.raceresult.com/164640/?lang=en
